Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Reed a 501(c)3 organization?

A: Reed is registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization by the IRS. Contributions to Reed are fully tax-deductible to the amount allowed by law and your gift receipt meets the IRS requirements as a record of donation. Reed’s tax ID number is 93-0386908.

Q: What is Reed’s fiscal year?

A: Reed's fiscal year corresponds with the academic calendar and runs from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the next calendar year.

Q: What are my payment-method options?

Q: How do I make a gift of stock?

A: Learn more about how to make a gift of stock or securities to Reed.

Q: Can I use PayPal to make a donation?

A: Reed cannot accept donations through PayPal at this time. Click here to give online through our secure web site. Alternately, you may give by mail or telephone. In addition, Reed can accept gifts of stock. Click here to learn more about ways of giving.

Q: Can Oregon donors receive a tax credit for gifts to Reed and the Oregon Cultural Trust?

A: Yes! Add up all your gifts to Reed and other Oregon cultural organizations from the calendar year and make a matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust by December 31st. Claim your 100% tax credit when you file your Oregon tax return. The "identify" code for the Oregon Cultural Trust is 722. Your entire contribution to the Oregon Cultural Trust—up to $500 for individuals, $1000 for couples filing jointly or $2,500 for Oregon corporations—qualifies for the tax credit.

What is a tax credit? Unlike a tax deduction that only reduces the amount of your taxable income, a tax credit reduces the amount of tax you owe. Your gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust will reduce your Oregon Income Tax bill dollar for dollar (up to $500 for individuals, $1,000 for couples filing jointly and $2,500 for Oregon corporations).

Q: Are gifts to Reed from Canadians tax-deductible?

A: Gifts to Reed from a resident of Canada are tax-deductible to the amount allowed by Canadian law. For more information, click here and review Article XXI, number 6, of the United States-Canada income tax treaty.

Q: How can I give to Reed College?

A: A gift to the Annual Fund is the best way to immediately benefit current students and support the entire college. Annual Fund gifts are put to use as soon as they are received, either as financial aid or to support priorities such as faculty and instruction, student services, diversity initiatives, or any of the other critical daily operations that make Reed the transformative, rigorous place that it is.

Gifts to the Annual Fund can be made

online;

by mailing a check to the college;

over the phone.

There are various ways to make an Annual Fund gift more meaningful. A gift will go further by establishing it as a recurring monthly gift, rather than making it a one-time donation. Establishing a recurring monthly gift not only provides a stable and reliable revenue source for Reed, it reduces fundraising costs and allows a donor to give a larger gift in smaller increments.

Student Life and Alumni ProgramsYour gifts support robust career advising to connect students with jobs and internships, wellness programs to keep current students healthy and happy, and alumni programming such as Reunions and Reed magazine.

Q: Why is it important to give to Reed every year?

A: From an institutional standpoint, consistent giving provides predictable financial stability for the college and allows Reed to support the continuing and new initiatives that are a part of each year’s annual operating budget. A broad base of alumni donors making generous yearly gifts unites the whole community in a common effort to sustain and nurture an intense focus on a single goal: to provide a superb education in the liberal arts and sciences.

From a donor perspective, consistent giving is powerful. Everyone has far more power to support the institution than they think. By simply making a gift every year, instead of every once in a while, donors may be surprised by the extent to which they will support the college financially over time. It’s not exactly compounding interest, but the impact of giving consistently is far reaching. Keith Allen ’83 undertook an analysis of alumni giving patterns in 2014. He found that consistency and current-giving status are two factors that have enormous impact on our fundraising potential, on the financial health of the college, and on the quality of the educational program that is provided to Reed students.

Your gifts to Reed possess a leveraging power that extends beyond their dollar value. When the whole Reed community embraces the college as a philanthropic cause, and members make giving to Reed a priority according to their financial means, then each person’s commitment inspires and undergirds generosity from others.

Q: Why donate to Reed College?

A: Reed was founded on the bequest of Amanda Reed, and generous donors have nurtured Reed and the college’s students since the first day of classes in 1911. Through the years, thousands of donors have provided support for one of the finest and most distinctive educational programs in the country. With this collective and remarkable philanthropy, the idea for a different and more genuine and effective education in the liberal arts and sciences has become a reality and a notable symbol for intellectual exploration.

Reed aspires to offer a challenging, even transformational, education to talented students regardless of their families’ financial resources. For this reason, the college has not sought to link tuition revenues with the cost of college programs.

Students paying full tuition today do not even fully fund the cost of their education. We rely on past philanthropists, whose gifts created the endowment, and many gifts of all sizes to the Annual Fund to cover a substantial portion of our expenses each year. The annual operating budget is composed of (approximately)

70% tuition;

23% endowment income;

7% Annual Fund and other income.

Many students can enroll only because of the college’s commitment to need-based financial aid. For 2016–17, Reed administered approximately $36 million in aid to meet 100 percent of the demonstrated need for all admitted students, with the average Reed grant exceeding $38,000.

When donors give to Reed, their funds join a collection of gifts that sustain generations of excellent academic work and create a new foundation of support for Reed’s current students.

Ultimately, reasons for giving are as individual as Reedies. When asked why they give to Reed, donors often cite the following:

They believe in Reed College and its mission to provide the best liberal arts education in the country.

They understand that without their financial support, Reed could not provide the same rigorous academics, small classes, and overall excellence that it does today.

They want to support the programs, people, and campus life that give Reed its unique character.

They care deeply about the life of the mind and want to be sure that the college that supports that value will continue to thrive.

They want to help students who would not otherwise be able to attend Reed.

They have a deep emotional connection to Reed and want other people to share in and grow from the experience that was meaningful for them.

They were asked to give and feel compelled to support an institution they love.

They see Reed as a worthy cause.

Q: What are some ways that people have given to Reed College that have had a significant impact?

A: The impact of generous giving can be found everywhere. In fact, the college was founded with a gift: Amanda Reed’s bequest set this community of scholars in motion over a century ago.

All gifts to the college make a difference. In one case, a group of current students might contribute what they can to create the annual Reedies for Reedies scholarship; in another, a group of alumni might come together to establish an endowed professorship. Individual gifts work together to tangibly benefit students. Other gifts have endowed student research funds or provided needed capital to complete new construction on campus.

The impact of some gifts can be seen easily: the Performing Arts Building and the new computer science program were made possible through philanthropy. The impact of other gifts is harder to discern but no less important: half of the student body would not be able to attend without help from generous financial aid donors. In the end, all gifts make a difference.